The present invention relates generally to the installation and manufacture of computer systems and more specifically to an apparatus and method for checking component compatibility in a build to order computer system.
Systems and methods for efficient manufacture and installation of build to order computer systems are known to the art. For example, it is known to the art to install software and perform tests on the computer systems prior to shipping the computer system to a customer. This may result in a computer system that operates correctly and is free of malfunctioning components. Further, it is known to the art to utilize systems comprising a database that may maintain a list of the available components and required testing procedures for the associated components that may be performed during installation to more efficiently produce build to order computer systems.
Upon a customer making an order, systems known to the art may analyze the database comprising the list of available components and prescribe testing for the components necessary in the installation of the computer system. However, some components and versions of components do not operate correctly when matched with other components. For example, a component may not be compatible with another component resulting in a malfunctioning computer system. Computer manufacturing systems known to the art are limited in that they do not analyze and prevent the installation of components and versions of components that may have compatibility conflicts with other components included within the build to order computer system.
If each component listed within the component table could come equipped with a version/revision identification and a compatibility property, then a build to order computer system could be manufactured with the latest version of components available while ensuring that no compatibility conflicts were present among the components of the computer system. As such, this may result in a computer system capable of more efficient installation of a custom software configuration. Consequently, it would be advantageous if an apparatus and method existed that could be used to check component compatibility and may find a specific revision of a software component to install that may be compatible with the other software components. Further, it would be advantageous if the apparatus may update the compatibility of components when conflicts are identified. It would also be advantageous if new versions of software components could be targeted for testing to determine if a conflict that existed in the previous version still exists in the new version.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for installing a custom software configuration on a build to order computer system capable of checking component compatibility. The apparatus may comprise a database that includes a list of components and a list of install/test steps. Each component may be identified specifically, by its class, by the version/revision number, and may also include a compatibility property. The apparatus of the present invention may be capable of updating the compatibility property of each component when new conflicts are identified. Further, the apparatus may specifically target testing of new versions of components that had a compatibility conflict in a previous version.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.